


we deserve a soft epilogue, my love

by Bluebox_Parchment



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 1520? idk her, Coda, Epilogue, Everyone lives, Fix-It, Fix-it fic, Fluff, Hunter Family, M/M, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Retired Hunters, i just wanted to indulge some softness before ep20 inevitably hurts me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27610532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluebox_Parchment/pseuds/Bluebox_Parchment
Summary: It’s been ten years and they’ve yet to have a single one of these meet-ups rained off. Even when the weather forecast promised flash flooding, somehow the day still dawns with cloudless skies and a bright sun to warm them. Dean can’t help but smile as he starts hefting coolers out of Baby’s trunk. He supposes there’s always a plus-side to being one-third-Dad to God.A post-series/post 15x19 coda of sorts and a tentative wish for what 15x20 will bring.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Garth Fitzgerald IV/Bess Myers, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 108





	we deserve a soft epilogue, my love

**Author's Note:**

> _I think we deserve  
>  a soft epilogue, my love.  
> We are good people  
> and we’ve suffered enough._   
>  [source](https://cardiamachina.co.vu/post/126917973423/i-think-we-deserve-a-soft-epilogue-my-love)

It’s been ten years and they’ve yet to have a single one of these meet-ups rained off. Even when the weather forecast promised flash flooding, somehow the day still dawns with cloudless skies and a bright sun to warm them. Dean can’t help but smile as he starts hefting coolers out of Baby’s trunk. He supposes there’s always a plus-side to being one-third-Dad to God.

There’s a rumble just up the road and Dean turns in time to see the gleaming, cherry red motorbike pull up and for Kaia to jump off the back and shake out her hair from under her helmet. ‘Still driving that death trap then?’ he calls out as Claire kicks the break and swings off the bike as well. 

‘You know your bitching makes you sound about a hundred, right?’ Claire says as she hooks hers and Kaia’s helmets over the bike's handles.

‘Yeah yeah,’ he grouses as he starts taking a couple coolers down the slight slope towards one of the picnic benches on the waterfront. ‘Technically am,’ he adds to himself with a resigned shake of the head. 

Kaia makes her way over, dropping down another of the coolers from Baby beside the two he’d brought and then she’s up on tiptoes and kissing his cheek. ‘Good to see you too, Dean,’ she says brightly. 

Claire stops short, arms full with a misshapen duffle which Kaia relieves her of so that Dean can reel her into his arms and give her a bone crushing hug. Claire grumbles against his shoulder but in that playful way of hers that means no matter how much she complains she doesn’t actually mind. She hugs him back just as tightly before stepping back to say, ‘So, we’re first this year, huh?’

Dean nods, lifting the lids of the old, beaten up green cooler that’s still filled with beers. ‘Donna reckons she and Jody won’t get in til closer to eleven,’ he tells her, holding out a bottle to the two of them. ‘And Sammy’s unlikely to get here before midday because of how many bathroom breaks that car-full’s gonna need.’ 

Claire chuckles around the lip of the bottle. ‘’Lex had a late shift last night so she was gonna be a little later heading off.’ Almost absent mindedly, the three of them perch on the bench, eyes trained out on the water.

Even though he’s been mostly out of the life now for nearing a decade, Dean still hasn’t found it in him to care much about official holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. He knows most hunters are the same. A lifetime of bad habits are hard to shake. But this? This day to them is special, it’s _sacred_. The balmy skies are proof of as much. 

‘Anyone else gonna make it?’ Kaia asks Dean. 

‘Think everyone’s heading this way this year.’ There’s a bark near the water and Dean turns towards it, unable to keep the softness from his face and deciding that really, after ten years, he really doesn’t need to.

Miracle comes bounding forwards, paws damp and muddy, her leash nowhere in sight. She’s propped up on Claire’s legs, sniffing at her face with enthusiastic interest for such an old girl. But Dean doesn’t pay much mind to his shaggy ball of fluff, not when someone has appeared from the treeline, jeans rolled up to his knees, boots and dog leash hanging from his right hand. The sun shines brown and grey into his black tresses, the blue of the water glitters in his eyes and there’s a shine of silver on his left hand that has Dean absently fiddling with his own matching ring. 

He leaves Claire and Kaia with Miracle and makes his way to Cas. 

It’s stupid really, given that it’s only been about an hour since he saw him last, but Dean is drawn towards him like a moth to flame. Always has been. Cas gives him that soft smile, the crinkles around his eyes deepening, his soul shining from him more brightly than his grace ever did, and his own heart stutters at the sight. Getting on a quarter of a century and Cas can still knock the wind right out of him. 

He cups his face, pulls him close and kisses him. Cas’ boots bump against Dean’s hip. ‘Hello, Dean,’ he says, voice still all gravel and silk. 

‘Heya, Cas.’ He slides his hand down until he tangles his fingers with Cas’, feeling grounded in a way only Cas can achieve. ‘Claire and Kaia’re here.’ They start walking back towards the benches.

‘I did wonder why my presence was no longer as exciting to Miracle.’

Dean leans down a couple inches and presses his lips to Cas’ stubbled jaw. ‘The dog may be fickle, but you’ve always got me.’

~

It takes another hour and a half for Sam’s soccer mom car to pull up tight on Baby’s ass because Sam is nothing if not a petty little bitch of a baby brother even though he’s well into his forties now. 

There’re too many vehicles parked up to really see Sam and Eileen climbing out of the front seats, but before Dean knows it there’s a whirlwind of messy curls and skinny limbs hurtling his way, barrelling into him so quickly that if she were any taller, she would’ve taken out his crown jewels. ‘JoJo,’ he says simply, scooping his niece up into his arms and spinning her around, basking in her loud squeals of delight. 

‘Uncle Dean, guess what! I lost my first tooth!’ she tells him excitedly, her mouth cracking open wide to reveal a gummy space where her top right incisor used to be. 

‘Would you look at that!’ He drops a kiss to her temple. ‘Did the Tooth Fairy visit?’

She pins him with such a withering stare Dean almost drops her. How she’s already managed to perfect Sam’s patented bitch-face aged 6 and a half, Dean’ll never know. ‘Well, obviously not,’ she says, as if a child had any right to be able to command that level of sarcasm. ‘Uncle Garth killed the Tooth Fairy. She was mean. Why would I want to meet her?’ 

The laughter escapes from him in a bubble of a bark. ‘Yeah that’s, that’s a real good point JoJo.’

She takes that moment to look over his shoulder and her face breaks into a look of ecstatic delight. ‘Uncle Cas!’ she screams right into Dean’s ear, and she clambers up his chest and over his shoulder, boney knees and elbows digging into age-old scar tissue before she throws her weight off him into Cas’ non-doubt open arms. 

No longer at the mercy of his niece’s attention, Dean looks back in time to spot Sam and Eileen walking over, a sleeping toddler dozing on Sam’s shoulder and… would you look at that. He catches Eileen’s eye and instantly signs out, ‘Are you two insane?’

She laughs, resting her hand across the slight swell of her belly. ‘Gluttons for punishment, I think,’ she tells him, leaning up to hug him tightly. There are many things he wants to say to her - to Sam - but he holds his tongue because he knows there’s no point whilst he holds her tight. ‘It’s a boy,’ she adds into his ear. ‘Found out yesterday.’ 

When they pull apart, he can’t help the tears that brim up in his eyes when she touches his face lightly. And then she’s hoisting the still-sleeping Bobbi from Sam’s arms, leaving his brother free to step forward and engulf him in his giant arms. ‘Heya, Sammy,’ he says into his brother’s hair. ‘About time you guys showed up, we’re starving.’

Sam pushes him back, the crows feet by his eyes no longer smooth out and there’s a few stray grey streaks running through his still too-long locks. ‘Two kids and a pregnant wife, Dean. You try driving over state lines with all those toilet breaks. You and Cas have it easy.’ He rolls his eyes, shoving his brother slightly to the side as they start heading down to the congregation on the water’s front.

Bobbi has finally woken up and is kissing the bristly cheek of her name-sake who looks a little glassy-eyed under his ratty old baseball cap. Jo’s already managed to drag Claire, Cas and Gertie into the water, Miracle bounding through the shallows after them, tail flailing in delight. He glances sideways to Sam who’s raising a hand in welcome to Linda. ‘You’re lucky your wife is deaf, to get away with blaming your shitty driving on her,’ Dean says, then adds, ‘Bitch.’ 

Sam takes a little while to respond, too engrossed in watching Bobbi climb up on Garth’s shoulders and directing him towards the water to her Uncle Cas and big sister. ‘Jerk,’ he says finally, head half tipped in Dean’s direction.

~

The sun is just starting to dip towards the horizon, soft oranges and pinks starting to bruise across the crystal blue when Jack arrives in a gentle flutter of wings. The first thing he does is embrace his father - his first father - eyes closed serenely as he tucks his face into the crook of Cas’ neck. Cas cups the back of his head, strokes an idle thumb through his son’s hair. And if Dean turns away so Cas doesn’t get self-conscious about the tears dripping down his cheeks, then so be it. 

He fiddles with his silver ring and watches as Gertie teaches Jo how to braid Bobbi’s hair. Little Sam and Little Cas are curled up beside Miracle, all three dozing on a blanket in front of the firepit that Kevin, Patience and Alex are working on stoking. Sam sinks down onto the picnic blanket beside him and nudges him with his elbow. ‘Ten years,’ he says quietly, eyes soft on Eileen as she chats away with Jody and Donna, her hand absently stroking the swell of her belly.

‘Ten years,’ Dean echoes. He reaches into the cooler, extracting a couple beers and handing one over to his brother.

He twists off the lid but neither of them drink yet. Cas and Jack have finally parted and Cas has retrieved them a sweating bottle of beer apiece. 

Dean holds out his left hand which Cas takes with his right, fingers soft and warm. As he takes a step closer he lines up perfectly with the sun, golden yellow haloing around his dark tresses just to remind Dean of what the man before him once was: remind him of all he gave up for love. He squeezes Cas’ hand and Cas squeezes back. Right, Dean reminds himself for approximately the twelve-thousandth time: choosing Dean was never a difficult choice for Cas. God had tried, Death had tried, Purgatory, Heaven, Hell, and the oblivion of the Empty had had a shot too. And not a single damn one of them had ever managed to keep Cas from Dean. 

Cas brings his hand up to his mouth and presses a kiss to the ring on Dean’s finger and something warms him from the inside out. He can have this, he’s _allowed_ this, owed this. They both are. ‘To Team Free Will two-point-oh,’ Dean says, to his brother, to his husband, to his son. Sam, Cas and Jack raise their bottles together and cheers, glass clinking. 

‘To being the guys that saved the world,’ Sam adds.

‘More times than we care to count,’ Cas interjects. Dean smiles at him, recognising his own mannerisms reflected in Cas. 

‘To my family.’ Jack’s eyes are bright with tears. They drink.

~

They start firing off the fireworks once it’s fully dark, a special kind provided by Jack that doesn’t cause explosions that terrify the animals. The kids all ooh and the adults all aah. Claire and Kaia dance around the firepit. Charlie feeds Stevie messy looking s’mores. Sam’s large hand rests on Eileen’s belly, thumb gently stroking patterns across the bump.

Dean pulls Cas away from the group, knots his fingers into his hair and kisses the breath right out of him. He starts soft and slow, needy and possessive. And Cas clings to him, hand gripping tight on Dean’s left bicep. First place. Last place. ‘I love you,’ Cas breathes right into Dean’s mouth and his heart hammers hard against his ribcage. He will never tire of hearing those three words. The first time was too terrifying to mention, but now, with the decade of distance, Dean just clings to his husband, a hand splayed across Cas’ heart. There’s a hand print right there: shaped just like Dean’s. The scar on Cas’ chest and the renewed one on Dean’s arm was the price they had to pay to bring Cas back to him. Dean’d willingly pay it a hundred times over.

‘I love you, Cas,’ he says, resting his forehead against his husband’s. Their noses brush. ‘I love you.’ Those words used to scare him, were the only thing that struck fear into his heart with instant certainty. 

But it’s been ten years now. Ten years since they finally threw off the shackles of Chuck’s storytelling. Ten years since Jack levelled up and saved the world. Ten years since Dean had lost Cas and fought ‘til his hands were bloody to get him back. Ten years since peace and freedom. 

He slots their mouths back together, kisses Cas deeply until he feels like he can just float right out of his body. ‘I’m sorry it took me so damn long to say it,’ he whispers.

‘Every step brought us here,’ Cas tells him. ‘Brought us to now.’ 

Dean can see the different colours of the fireworks glittering in Cas’ eyes. ‘I love you,’ he says once more and believes. Not in fate, not in destiny, not even in what their son is capable of really. No. Dean holds a soft kiss to Cas’ lips and believes in this: the man in his arms that threw away the might of heaven just for every single messy moment here on earth with Dean; the family they’d carved out around them, who join them here on this sandy lakefront each year to celebrate; that once upon a time an angel waged war on Hell to raise the soul of a man who had damned himself for the life of his brother and in doing that, the three of them were able to save the world. 

He believes in them.

**Author's Note:**

> So, first things first: thanks for reading :D I am absolutely not prepared for the finale. I am in full on clown-mode. I'm throwing this out into the world to manifest some good vibes so I don't wind up hating everything. 
> 
> Secondly, this started as a bunch of rambled notes on a Sam and Dean ending: based on the image of Jared and Jensen sitting with the Impala on the bridge with Baby's old number plates. It was just gentle brotherly bickering. Then I decided I wanted them watching Eileen and Cas play with the kids/dogs. And then it became this sooooooo. yolo
> 
> Thirdly, to quote the Song of Solomon: _Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death;_ I have a passion for this Bible quote and cannot get it from my head. Especially not since we got a replay of the handprint on Dean's arm in 15x18. So, if I could get one thing I hadn't at all expected? It would be a mirror to that: Dean's handprint over Cas' heart. Unlikely to happen, but this is my fic and I can do what I want.
> 
> Lastly, I haven't been able to get the quote about deserving a soft epilogue out of my head since 15x18 because damn, if we don't get that for Dean and Cas I'm gonna riot (after weeping uncontrolably on my floor for several hours).
> 
> Come hang out on the Profound Bond discord server if you're over 18! We're keeping each other as sane as possible.  
> https://discord.gg/profoundbond


End file.
